Young people targeted by antiabortion lobby
Laws throughout states hamper progress in sex education and contraceptive expansion
A new report by the Guttmacher Institute and the State Innovation Exchange shows the legal trends for and against reproductive causes and rights in the past year.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Rosann Mariappuram, Senior Counsel for Reproductive Rights at State Innovation Exchange, who co-authored the article. Her research, which not only covered abortion but also delved into the state of sex education and contraceptive access, provides a fresh perspective on these often overshadowed topics, making it a must-read for anyone interested in reproductive rights.
I’ll delve into sex education first. According to the report, More than 50 bills have been introduced across 28 states this year that would interfere with the ability of students to receive comprehensive sex education. Sex education is not required in every state, and when provided, sex education is needed to be medically accurate in only 20 states. In addition, the majority of states require sex education curricula to emphasize abstinence.
Another problematic issue is the inclusion of Baby Olivia laws, which mandate the viewing during sexual education classes of misleading, medically inaccurate videos produced by an anti-abortion group.
“What we saw in the bills that were introduced is it's the same streamlining of stigmatizing sex and really trying to control people's pregnancy decisions,” Mariappuram said. “But starting at that place of information.”
Parental consent laws have long been part of abortion regulations in the country. That was at the heart of the Becky Bell tragedy, where a 17-year-old girl from Indiana opted for an illegal abortion instead of notifying her parents so she could get a safe, legal one. I interviewed her parents for my forthcoming book and wrote about Becky in my newsletter.
People now may not realize that contraception and birth control require parental consent in some areas. Eight bills introduced in six states would require young people to obtain parental notification or consent to obtain contraceptives.
“A lot of people know about parental consent for abortion care, but parental consent for birth control is a lot murkier because states vary drastically in what they allow,” Mariappuram said.
They can even have parental consent laws for STI testing. That’s harmful because sexually active teenagers could avoid needed care and limit infections among their peers if they got the antibiotics necessary to take care of the problem. If they must tell their parents they had sex, they may opt not to test altogether and then be utterly oblivious to whether they’re spreading less risky or more risky infections.
“Young people often have the fewest resources,” Mariappuram said. “And so they're the ones kind of being trapped.”